Marvel Studios Rumoured To Be Bringing Back Jon Bernthal As The Punisher

When Marvel Studios' parent company Disney announced that it was starting its own streaming service, Netflix - who had had the streaming rights to many of the Marvel series - cancelled all of them in February 2019. That's because they would all be transferred to Disney+. Fair enough.

But some of the Marvel franchises aren't quite in keeping with Disney's renowned family-oriented nature, not least The Punisher, the alter-ego of Frank Castle and an extremely violent vigilante who, as his name suggests, acts as judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one.

Snow White it's not. As such, the future of the character - as well as other more adult superheroes such as Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones - is a little bit up in air.

Marvel

According to Mikey Sutton from Geekosity: All Things Pop Culture, there's a rumour that, away from the restrictive content shackles of Disney+, Marvel Studios are plotting to bring back actor Jon Bernthal to play the brutal vigilante.

"Because the Punisher is such a violent character," he wrote, "toning him down for Disney+ wouldn't work; Disney is quite aware of this, and there are no plans for his show to continue on that streaming channel.

"There has been chatter about either FX or Hulu for the Punisher to hunt and kill criminals, free from censorship. Regardless of which of the two he ends up, details have begun to emerge on where his future stands."

That doesn't necessarily mean that if - and it's a big 'if' - Bernthal reprises that role, any new series will continue the narrative straight on from where the last one left off. These comic book franchises make up their own rules, you see.

Marvel

"First of all, Marvel Studios intends to bring back Bernthal," Sutton announced online. "However, it doesn't mean the new series will follow the continuity of the Netflix program especially when the multiverse can now explain it away. Or it can they will simply not refer to it (sic)."

While it's worth remembering that these are unsubstantiated rumours, it's still quite exciting - some superhero violence would be a nice distraction from the violence of the real word, after all...

Topics: US Entertainment

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]